I love second hand shopping, and more often than not I will come home with a few small home decor accessories like vases.  All shapes, but mostly small in size.  They are perfect for filling empty spaces on mantels, bookshelves, and tables.  Most of the time I find things that are outdated, or the wrong color.  Not to worry, you can give new life to so many thrift store finds just by painting it.  These Painted Chalky Finish Home Decor accessories were transformed from boring dull colors to bright and fun.

Items Needed:

• Americana DuraClear Varnishes 2oz - DuraClear Matte Varnish (DS60-3)
• Foam Brushes
• Water Basin
• Painter's Tape
• Foam Dauber

Instructions:

I've had these two vases for a couple years now just sitting around waiting for new life. The Americana Decor Chalky Finish paint was the perfect paint for this project.  I really love this paint, it covers so well and I love the finished look of it.

I started by giving each vase a base color of the {Everlasting} white paint.  It will take a couple coats to cover the vase completely.  Be sure to let each coat dry completely before painting another.  I decided for my taller vase that I wanted it to have a fun stripe pattern.  I used some washi tape to create vertical lines which divided this small vase in to four sections.

I then just used a small foam dobber to apply my {Carbon} black paint, this only took two coats to cover the white base color.  Once it was dry I slowly removed my washi tape and cleaned up any mistakes with a small paint brush.

For my shorter and more plump vase I wanted to bring it some of the popular golds that are still trending in home decor.  I grabbed something with a small round tip - it happened to be a chopstick I had on hand.  I dipped my narrow end of the chopstick in to my {Glorious Gold} paint and began giving my vase some polka dots.  I love that each dot has a slight textured raised bump on it, it really adds more character to this vase.

Once both vases were completely dry I gave them a quick coat of a matte spray sealer to protect them from chipping.  I recommend a spray version instead of a brush on version.

I love these new {old} pieces and how they fit in much better with my current home decor. I bet if you look around you can find some things to give new life to in your house!